Book I. 



GRAPE-VINE. 



749 



they are in the form of a raceme, of a greenish-white color, and fragrant odor, appear- 

 ing in the open air in this country in June ; and the fruit, which is of the berry kind, at- 

 tains such maturity as the season and situation admit, by the middle or end of Sep- 

 tember. The berry or grape is generally globular, but often ovate, oval, oblong, or 

 finger-shaped ; the colors green, white, red, yellow, amber, and black, or a variegation 

 of two or more of these colors. The skin is smooth, the pulp and juice of a dulcet, 

 poignant, elevated, generous flavor. Every berry ought to enclose five small heart or ! 

 pear shaped stones ; though, as some generally fail, they have seldom more than three, 

 and some varieties, as they attain a certain age, as the ascalon or sultana raisin, none. 

 The weight of a berry depends not only on its size but on the thickness of its skin, and 

 texture of the flesh, the lightest being the thin-skinned and juicy sorts, as the sweetwater 

 or muscadine ; and what are considered large berries of these varieties, will weigh from 

 five to seven pennyweights, and measure from one to two thirds of an inch in girth. A 

 good-sized bunch of the same sorts may weigh from two to six pounds ; but bunches 

 have been grown of the Syrian grape, in Syria, weighing forty pounds, and in England 

 weighing from ten to nineteen pounds. A single vine in a large pot, or grown as a 

 dwarf standard in the manner practised in the vineyards in the north of France, 

 ordinarily produces from three to nine bunches ; but by superior management in 

 gardens in England, the number of bunches is prodigiously increased, and one plant, that 

 of the red Hamburgh sort, in the vinery of the royal gardens at Hampton Court, has 

 produced 2200 bunches, averaging one pound each, or in all nearly a ton. That at 

 Valentine's, in Essex, has produced 2000 bunches of nearly the same average weight. 



4791. The age to which the vine will attain in warm climates is so great as not to be 

 known. It is supposed to equal or even to surpass that of the oak. Pliny speaks of a 

 vine which had existed six hundred years ; and Bosc says, there are vines in Burgundy 

 upwards of four hundred years of age. In Italy there are vineyards which have been in a 

 flourishing state for upwards of three centuries ; and Miller tells us, that a vineyard a 

 hundred years old is reckoned young. The extent of the branches of the vine, in certain 

 situations and circumstances, is commensurate with its produce and age. In the hedges 

 of Italy and woods of America, they are found overtopping the highest elm and poplar 

 trees ; and in England, one plant trained against a row of houses in Northallerton 

 (lately dead), covered a space, in 1585, of one hundred and thirty-seven square yards ; it 

 was then above one hundred years old. That at Hampton Court, nearly of the same 

 age, occupies above one hundred and sixteen square yards ; and that at Valentine's, in 

 Essex, above one hundred and forty-seven square yards. The size to which the trunk 

 or stem sometimes attains in foreign countries, is so great as to have afforded planks 

 fifteen inches broad, furniture, and statues ; and even in this country, the Northallerton 

 vine above mentioned, in 1785, measured four feet in circumference near the ground ; 

 and one branch of the Hampton Court vine measures one hundred and fourteen feet 

 in length. Vine timber is of great durability. It may be remarked, that vines regu- 

 larly pruned and dressed, can rarely attain similar magnitudes, nor is it desirable that 

 they should. 



4792. The native country of the vine, like most of our acclimated fruits, is generally 

 considered to be Pei'sia ; and Dr. Sickler (Geschichte der Obst. Cult. vol. i.) has given a 

 learned and curious account of its migration to Egypt, Greece, and Sicily. From Sicily 

 it is supposed to have found its way to Italy, Spain, and France ; and in the latter coun- 

 try it is believed to have been cultivated in the time of the Antonines, in the second century. 

 It has been found wild in America, and is now considered as a native, or natu- 

 ralised in the temperate climates of both hemispheres. In the old world, its culture 

 forms a branch of rural economy from the 21st to the 51st degree of north latitude, or 

 from Schiraz in Persia to Coblentz on the Rhine. Some vineyards are to be found even 

 near Dresden and in Moravia ; and by means of garden-culture, it is made to produce 

 fruit for the table still farther north ; being grown to a considerable degree of perfection 

 in the hot-houses of St. Petersburgh and Stockholm. 



4793. The introduction of the vine to Britain is supposed by some to have taken place 

 under the first Roman governors, though, from Tacitus, it appears to have been wanting 

 in Agricola's time. There is evidence, however, to prove that vineyards were planted here 

 in the year 280, A. D. (see 312.) ; and Bede, writing in 731, says, there were vineyards 

 growing in several places. Harte observes, that the religious fraternities of the dark 

 ages spread out from Italy in all directions, carrying with them the knowledge of agri- 

 culture and gardening ; there is little doubt. Professor Martyn remarks, that orchards and 

 vineyards were common appendages to abbeys and monasteries from their first establish- 

 ment, at least in the southern parts of the island, to the time of the reformation. From 

 this period they have disappeared, in part, perhaps, from the culture of the vine being little 

 understood by those to whom the lands of religious houses were sold or granted ; and in 

 part, because a better article would be introduced from our French provinces in the time 

 of the Henries, and continued to be imported when we lost these. 



